Wouldn't be surprised if they were told to lose some weight if they were really THAT out of shape. We all know that Ford will be in shape though!

I read somewhere that Fisher was quoted as saying that Disney had already assigned her and Hamill personal trainers in anticipation of filiming, and that the studio was fine with the shape that Ford is currently in.

As far as the 'Story Group' I think it was inevitable that the post-RotJ EU would be declared non-canon, but to use another franchise as an example, Star Trek has never had an expanded universe. It has books, games, etc - everything Star Wars has to fill out the the world (not to mention CBS's coffers), which leaves the creators free to do as they please creatively.